My approach with this package is to examine backing up from the other side of the equation. Given that a certain amount of space is available to hold the backup files, IFW_Backup attempts to use this space efficiently to hold the largest number of backup files.

This package will automatically decide whether it should take a full backup or a changes-only backup based on historical data kept in its control files. As well, a full backup can be specified via parameter, or by program code (using day of week or month, or after a set number of change-only backups have been taken, etc).

Also, when the space available for backups becomes nearly full, the oldest backups will be deleted automatically to make room for the new.

- The package has been adjusted to work with Image-for-Windows version 3 (as well as version 2).

- The package has been enhanced to allow multiple copies to run simultaneously, by implementing a simple, secure locking scheme to ensure that updates to critical, shared control files occur safely. (This facility is used by the next two enhancements.)

- Provided a facility to run concurrent backups from different machines to the same backup drive or partition. Use of this feature can reduce overall backup times. See the new 'set cms' entry in the IFW_Env.cmd file.

- Within a TBWinPE/RE environment, added a feature which allows simultaneous backups of several physical hard drives to a common backup drive on the same machine. This can reduce the total backup time for a computer. See the IFW_PeRe_Read_Me.txt file for more information. (IFW_PeRe.cmd and some of the MyDefrag scripts have been changed to support this feature.)

- Within a TBWinPE/RE environment, IFW_PeRe.cmd now sets the correct 'Temp' folders for later purging if required.

- Added alternative 'run after' entries ra4 & ra5 for Windows 8 and above, to run a Windows Defender scan after a successful backup. See these entries in the IFW_Env.cmd file for more information.

- Changed the default 'run after' entries ra4 & ra5 to not run under a TBWinPE/RE environment, as this is not possible at present.

- Added an example 'set ray' run-after entry which can be used to shut down or restart the computer after the backup has finished. (This replaces the equivalent IFW 'power options' settings, which must NOT be used.)

- Added the equivalent shut down/restart facility to IFW_PeRe.cmd for use in a TBWinPE/RE environment. (See the IFW_PeRe_Read_Me file for details.)

- If the display of 'set rb?' and 'set ra?' code is suppressed in the screen window, it will also be suppressed from the log.

- Added the ability for run-after code to generate a 'warn' type log. See the default 'set ra0' entry in the IFW_Env.cmd file.

- Changed the name of the 'early initialisation errors' log to "IFW_Backup_Init_[computername]_[IFW_Env_name]_fail.log". It will be created in the IFW_Backup folder if necessary, as before.

- Adjusted the 'Incorporate Old Backups' option to calculate the minimum size of the first backup, when this option is used before the first backup has been taken. Documentation on this has been added to this section in the IFW_Backup_Read_Me_n.nn.txt file.

- IFW_Backup_Set_up_n.nn.exe should now add administrator rights to shortcuts correctly when run on non-English versions of Windows, and with Windows 10. (There may be pauses of up to 4 seconds during this process.) If you encounter any problems with this, please contact me at the email address under 'Warranty', or post a message on the Terabyte Unlimited forums.

See the first post for download instructions.

Last edited by TAC109 on Thu Jan 12, 2017 3:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Shared Network drive setupFollowing is my setup. Running Windows 7 x64 on each computer.Computer A connected directly to USB external drive (Note: not a NAS drive)Computer B,C,D etc connected to LAN.USB external drive is designated as drive letter Z:. It has the following folders that are shared on the LAN. Each computer has access to all other computers backup folders. (i.e. the set bak=) statement. For example Computer A has (set bak=Z:\Computer_A_folder\);Computer B has (set bak=Z:\Computer_B_folder\) etc. Backup space is shared. For computers not directly connected to the external USB drive (computers B,C,D etc)I have mapped the drive letter as above. Under sharing backup space paragraph 6 it states All computers using shared backup definitions must be able to access the IFW_Data folder pointed to by the 'set dat' entries and all must be able to access each other's backup folders defined in the 'set bak' entries.No problem for the 'set bak' entries as I have sharing setup so each computer can "see" all the relevant backup folders.However, what do I do with the IFW_Data folder so each computer can see it? I cannot map Z:\ as it is already used for the backup folders. I mapped Y:\ using an administrative share (i.e. Y$) for those computers not directly attached to the external USB drive.Running IFW_Backup.cmd on Computer A works fine. It created the IFW_Data folder under root on Z:\. So I now had Z:\IFW_Data that I shared with all other computers not attached directly to the external USB drive, mapping it as Y:\ (from the administrative share Y$). Will this work? I tried mapping it as Y:\ to the folder Z:\IFW_Data but when I do that the IFW_Backup.cmd script creates a subfolder of this folder on each LAN computers' first script run. This results in a path of Z:\IFW_Data\IFW_Data. I guess my question is how do I correctly map the IFW_Data folder for those computers not connected directly to the external USB drive connected to Computer "A"?Incidentally, it would be nice to have an option to abort the shutdown (set ray= if not exist ^"X:\Windows\^" shutdown /s /t 60) command. I've made some errors running the script which quickly aborts and then the shutdown in 1 minute starts. I've taken as a temporary measure to have an administrators command prompt open with the command shutdown -a ready just in case.Thanks for this program. Someday I'll get the hang of it.

Somebeachsomwhere and I discussed his problem via email and reached the conclusion that it was only necessary to map the USB disk root folder (Z:\) on the A computer to Z:\ on the B, C, etc computers, and this would make the underlying folder structure on the USB disk available to the B, C, etc computers without any extra mapping necessary.

This error is occurring because the year in the date shown (17-01-05)
is expected to be 4 digits (i.e. 2017-01-05). (This error has offset
the month and day fields, causing the other knock-on errors.)

If you bring up a cmd prompt in Windows and type 'date' then 'enter'
(without the quotes), what is the output?

If it shows a 2 digit year, you will need to check your Region
settings in the Control Panel. Look at the Formats tab. The short date
should have the year as 'yyyy' (without the quotes) in a standard
setup.

Could you report back with the above details, and also the version and
language of your Windows system?

Thanks, I set it the same as another computer and the script works. Not sure why it wasn't set correctly as it was a stock install of win7.Thank you for the help. Hopefully I have everything else setup correctly and the scheduled task works as expected.

- Fixed a prompt in the 'Incorporate old backups' option to indicate that it is necessary to use the correct case when entering the 'before noon' character. Note that, due to a bug in DOS, the file times shown in this option can be off by one hour during the daylight savings period of the year.

- Fixed a bug whereby the calculation of elapsed times for a period which went over midnight would be incorrect.

- Added a description of the optional IFW /dpwr parameter to the 'set ext' entry in the IFW_Env.cmd file. This parameter can be used to prevent changes to the power options on the IFW window.

- Added information on checking that the year format is correct, to the 'set year' entry in the IFW_Env.cmd file.

See the first post for download instructions.

Last edited by TAC109 on Tue Sep 19, 2017 6:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Here's what I'm doing:Unzip the downloaded file to D:\Downloads\IFW_Backup\Run D:\Downloads\IFW_Backup\IFW_Backup_Set_up_4.11.exeSelect option 1 and unpack to F:\IFW_Backup\Check that "F:\IFW_Backup\IFW_Backup_Install_From\" is created with files inside (it is)Run D:\Downloads\IFW_Backup\IFW_Backup_Set_up_4.11.exe again and selection option 2In the dialog that opens, select F:\IFW_Backup\ and select "Yes".This produces following:

Checking...find: vn=: No such file or directoryfind: vn=: No such file or directoryfind: vn=: No such file or directoryfind: vn=: No such file or directoryfind: vn=: No such file or directoryfind: vn=: No such file or directoryfind: vn=: No such file or directoryfind: vn=: No such file or directoryfind: vn=: No such file or directoryfind: vn=: No such file or directoryfind: vn=: No such file or directoryfind: vn=: No such file or directoryfind: vn=: No such file or directoryfind: vn=: No such file or directory

Some package files are missing or incorrect![cmd=0(3) myd=0(6) txt=0(4)]